Fortitude
by HazelGamerKat
Summary: 'He couldn't die; not before seeing the woman back at the Shrine of Worship open her eyes once again.' — A oneshot of Wander's struggle with the fourteenth colossus.


An ancient, closed-off city became nothing more than ruins.

The normally peaceful and quiet area was now a battle ground between a beast made of rock and stone, and a man with a sword that housed a sacred light within it. The man, Wander, used all of his strength to stay on the rampaging creature, determined not to fall off.

Earlier, he had broken part of the small colossus's armor, revealing the unique glowing symbol on its back that signified its weak point. However, the hostile beast made it difficult for the man to harm it, as it constantly ran and occasionally tried to shake him off.

Losing the last of his stamina, the exhausted warrior lost his grip and fell to the ground, but managed to quickly get back up on his feet. The destruction-obsessed creature slowly came to a halt when it realized the man was no longer on its back. Wander lowered his head and took a deep breath. He refused to be bested.

He couldn't die; not before seeing the woman back at the Shrine of Worship open her eyes once again.

_Mono..._

When he looked back up, he saw the armored beast paw the ground before getting ready to charge at the weakened human. Wander turned and ran to the nearest fallen pillar, his only protection from the menace behind him. He forced his weak legs to go faster as he heard the aggressive beast close the distance between them with each passing second. When he got close enough, the warrior jumped and grabbed the ledge of the stone pillar and prepared to lift himself up.

_Crunch!_

The miniature colossus had caught up and slammed into him, crushing the mortal between its head and the pillar. Shocked, Wander tried to draw in breath, but only managed to let out a small, pained cry. The armored creature backed up, causing the injured man to slide to the ground on his knees, his pitiful form hunched over. He scrunched his face in pain and closed his eyes tightly, then began to cough roughly. When he finished his coughing fit, Wander opened his eyes to find a few small drops of blood smeared on the grass below him. While panting, his sides burned with terrible pain; his ribs were no doubt broken. It was a miracle that his back hadn't suffered the same fate.

Hearing his assaulter paw the ground once again, Wander struggled to get on his feet and attempt to jump back onto the pillar. Unlike last time, he managed to get on the the obstacle before the colossus could hit him. Instead, the clumsy creature hit the pillar, which stunned it. Seizing his chance, Wander leaped onto its back and grabbed its fur. He raised his sword and plunged it into the glowing sigil. The small colossus groaned in pain before attempting to shake its attacker off.

This time, the young warrior could not be shaken off. He would defeat it, for _her_.

Using the rest of his strength, Wander delivered the final blow upon the fourteenth obstacle. The beast took a few more steps before tumbling over on its side, lifeless.

Unnatural darkness began to cover the corpse, while black tendrils protruded from where its weak spot used to be. The successful warrior stood near the fallen colossus and waited for the strands of shadow to enter his body, knowing it was inevitable. No matter how many times he tried to escape them, they would always find and catch up to him. He gave up trying to run from them a while ago.

Wander closed his eyes. Whatever those things were, they would not stop him from saving Mono's soul. Nothing would.

As expected, the dark strands slithered over to the young man and plunged into him. Having severed themselves from the dead beast, they entered through his stomach, causing black smoke to escape from his mouth and where the tendrils slipped into him. Overwhelmed, Wander fell to his knees before collapsing face-down on the ground.

As the familiar sensation of darkness consumed him, Wander felt a small sense of hope; hope of seeing Mono's smiling face again.

_Just two more..._


End file.
